Hannah Noonan: 'I had to go home and Google where Croke Park was'

Playing football for London means sacrifice – often finishing work at 6pm, travelling an hour-and-a-half on the Tube to training, before more public transport on your own and arriving home around midnight.

Hannah Noonan has operated at adult level in London for almost two decades now and a combination of driving her own car and having a partner that understands the sacrifices involved has ensured she can keep going.

It has been an amazing journey but, at 32 years of age, she shows no sign of stopping yet.

The Parnells star has also been reflecting upon a time when she knew nothing of the sport she now immerses herself in.

The success came thick and fast at the start of her career but Noonan, who even spent a season playing for Dublin in 2015, couldn't comprehend the extent of her early achievements.

She reached an All-Ireland final at just 17, without even knowing what that big stadium on Jones’ Road actually stood for.

"Although I was playing since I was 10, I didn’t really know what an All-Ireland was or what it meant," said Noonan.

"I remember in 2007 being in the huddle with the girls and I was the youngest by about six years. They said the ladies' final would be in Croke Park this year. The girls were all buzzing and I had no idea what they were all excited about.

"I didn’t know Croke Park or any of it. I had to go home and Google where Croke Park was. I hadn’t even heard of it. I had heard of Wembley because that was kind of the big deal over here. But honestly I didn’t even know where Croke Park was.

"We got to the All-Ireland (junior) final in 2007 and it was then that I knew what an All-Ireland was. I won one in 2008 and in your head you don’t realise that you might only win one.

"I won a county All-Ireland and then we